Microbialites provide geological evidence into Earth's early ecosystems, recording long‐standing interactions between co‐evolving life and the environment. Yet, after more than 100 years of research, the complex interplay between environmental and biological forces involved in microbialite growth is still debated. Laguna de Los Cisnes, located in Chilean Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, provides a unique opportunity to study these interactions. This lake, which became ice‐free around 10 000 years ago, features carbonate microbialites developed by algal–microbial communities. Macroscopically, the organo‐sedimentary deposits exhibit a consistent primary crater‐like architecture, showcasing macrostructural variations such as dish‐shaped, hemispherical, columnar and lenticular morphologies. This study explores the environmental and biological factors shaping microbialite macrostructure by analysing the distribution of dominant morphotypes across the basin. Concurrently, it examines the internal mesostructure and microstructure of microbialites in association with prevailing algal–microbial communities. The incremental development of these communities contributes to the distinct crater‐like morphology observed in microbialites from Laguna de Los Cisnes. The mineral encrustation of the green alga Percursaria percursa emerges as a primary driver of lithification, evidenced by the preservation of microfossils within the microstructure of the microbialites. Simultaneously, physical environmental factors, including waves, Langmuir cells and accommodation space influence the location of the algal–microbial carbonate factory, determining the spatial distribution and temporal succession of different crater architecture variants. Laguna de Los Cisnes, hosting well‐preserved subfossil outcrops and living microbialites, serves as a remarkable living laboratory for understanding microbialite morphogenesis. This study contributes to a novel model that captures the fundamental role of algal–microbial communities in determining the primary macrostructural architecture of microbialites before environmental factors come into play, merely reshaping this architecture into different morphotypes.

中文翻译：

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微生物岩形态发生的隐藏生物面——来自最南端巴塔哥尼亚（智利）Laguna de Los Cisnes 的案例研究

微生物岩为地球早期生态系统提供了地质证据，记录了共同进化的生命与环境之间长期存在的相互作用。然而，经过 100 多年的研究，微生物岩生长所涉及的环境力和生物力之间复杂的相互作用仍然存在争议。Laguna de Los Cisnes 位于智利火地岛巴塔哥尼亚，为研究这些相互作用提供了独特的机会。这个湖大约在一万年前就不再结冰，以藻类微生物群落发育的碳酸盐微生物岩为特征。从宏观上看，有机沉积物表现出一致的原生火山口状结构，呈现出碟形、半球形、柱状和透镜状形态等宏观结构变化。本研究通过分析整个盆地主要形态类型的分布，探讨了影响微生物岩宏观结构的环境和生物因素。同时，它还检查了与普遍的藻类微生物群落相关的微生物的内部细观结构和微观结构。这些群落的逐渐发展导致了在洛斯西斯内斯湖微生物岩中观察到的独特的火山口状形态。绿藻的矿物质结壳鲈鱼微生物岩微结构中微化石的保存证明了岩化的主要驱动力。同时，物理环境因素，包括波浪、朗缪尔细胞和住宿空间，影响藻类-微生物碳酸盐工厂的位置，决定不同陨石坑结构变体的空间分布和时间连续性。Laguna de Los Cisnes 拥有保存完好的亚化石露头和活微生物岩，是了解微生物岩形态发生的卓越活体实验室。这项研究贡献了一种新的模型，该模型捕捉了藻类-微生物群落在环境因素发挥作用之前确定微生物的主要宏观结构的基本作用，只是将这种结构重塑为不同的形态类型。